The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey


The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey is an American drama miniseries created by Walter Mosley for Apple TV+. Based on the 2010 novel by Mosley, the series stars Samuel L. Jackson, Dominique Fishback, Cynthia McWilliams, Damon Gupton, and Marsha Stephanie Blake. It premiered on March 11, 2022, and concluded on April 8, 2022, consisting of six episodes.
The series received seven Black Reel Award nominations, winning four, including Outstanding Television Movie or Limited Series. It also received six NAACP Image Award nominations, while Jackson and Fishback were both nominated for Critics' Choice Awards for their performances.

Premise

A lonely 91-year-old man with dementia is temporarily able to remember his past and uses the time to investigate the death of his nephew.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Production

The series was announced in December 2020, with Samuel L. Jackson set to star in and executive produce the series with Walter Mosley adapting his own novel into the screenplay. Dominique Fishback was added to the cast in March 2021. Walton Goggins, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Damon Gupton, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams and Omar Benson Miller were added to the cast in April 2021, with production beginning that month. Episodes were directed by Ramin Bahrani, Debbie Allen, Hanelle Culpepper, and Guillermo Navarro. Filming concluded on June 26, 2021. Craig DeLeon is the composer for the limited series.

Release

The limited series premiered on March 11, 2022 on Apple TV+.

Reception

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7.1/10, based on 40 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey loses some luster in its final stretch, but Samuel L. Jackson and Dominique Fishback's sterling performances make this an unmissable elegy." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.